Canadiens News

In the Notebook - Nov. 29, 2010

by
Staff Writer
/ Montréal Canadiens

MONTREAL --- In today's notebook: Gionta never changes, Plekanec works the system and the guys talk Grey Cup.

Working the system: Leading the Canadiens’ offense with 23 points – 15 of them assists, while maintaining a solid two-way game, it’s no wonder Tomas Plekanec is earning himself a reputation as one of the most versatile Canadiens on the ice. When credited as a factor for Brian Gionta’s recent resurgence on the score-sheet, the Czech centre had this to say.

“Gio’s a great player and he plays our system really well. It’s easy for me find him because I always know where he’s going to be. He’s been playing well since the beginning of the season, he just didn’t find the back of the net right away,” explained Plekanec. “I think the fact that it’s easy for us to all play with each other says a lot about the whole team sticking to the system and knowing what their jobs are. When everyone does the job they’re supposed to it’s easy for us to create success.”

Consistency is key: With two goals and an assist against the Sabres on Saturday night, it would appear the Canadiens’ captain has reconnected with his scoring touch, proving that consistency is what matters when times are tough.

“I’ve always considered shooting the puck a lot to be a big part of my game. Taking a lot of shots is how you create opportunities and how you create goals. If you don’t shoot none of that happens. My overall game was pretty consistent from early on, I just wasn’t getting the goals,” pointed out Gionta. “When things aren’t going your way, the best thing you can do is just keep playing the system, stick to the plan and trust things will work themselves out. I think a lot of the guys who are doing the same are a lot more consistent this year which reflects in our team as a whole being a lot more consistent too.”

Let’s Talk Football: The day after the Grey Cup, Travis Moen sat in the Canadiens’ dressing room rehashing the events of the championship game. Originally from Swift Current Saskatchewan, Moen decided to stick with his roots when picking a team to cheer for in the finals.

“It’s not like I shed tears, but it was a pretty sad moment for Saskatchewan. It was an exciting game for sure, but I guess at the end of the day the best team won,” admitted Moen on the Alouettes’ 21-18 victory over the Roughriders. “I’ve been getting text messages since last night giving me a hard time about the loss. I guess I should’ve seen this coming.”

Two guys who didn’t hold back on rubbing the victory under Moen’s nose were teammates Maxim Lapierre and Mathieu Darche.

“I guess this must be a hard time for them, but we should thank them for dropping the final to us two years in a row,” said Lapierre. “It’s always great to see the Alouettes win.”

“I wrote out a text to Moen right after the interception. Then I thought I’d better wait until they actually won the game to send it so I wouldn’t have to eat my own words,” laughed Darche. “I know he’s really proud to be from Saskatchewan, but it’s still always nice to see the Als beat them.”